DC’s Compact Comics have been a powerhouse in stores, thanks to their pocket (well, large pocket) size, cheap price point, and easy-to-get-into collections. And other publishers have followed suit in varying fashions, including Oni and Marvel, as well as Image Comics with their “Backpack Editions” for Paper Girls. Add IDW Publishing to the mix, as the publisher will be releasing their own version — titled “Classic Collections” — starting in 2026.
While IDW has yet to officially announce the collections, the news comes via Penguin Random House’s advance solicits for the publisher. The first four titles out of the gate (at least, as listed on PRH), will be Godzilla: Rulers of the Earth, Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft, The Rocketeer: Thrills, Spills, and Chills, and D4VE.
While DC’s and Oni Press’s Compact Comics are 5.5″ x 8.5″, IDW’s Classic Collections will be more in line with Marvel’s Premier Collections at 6″ x 9″. They’re also more expensive than DC’s books (which cost $9.99), but a whole buck cheaper than the Marvel collections: Marvel’s books cost $14.99, while the IDW collections will cost $13.99 each.
There are some other differences with DC’s books, too. Those Compact Comics present either complete runs or first volumes, almost exclusively. However, the Classic Collections vary in content… The Godzilla volume includes all 25 issues of Chris Mowry, Matt Frank, and Jeff Zornow’s run on the Kaiju title.
Locke & Key, however, seems to be reprints of the “Master Editions” which collected two volumes of the six-volume series each — so while this Classic Collection is titled “Welcome to Lovecraft,” it contains both that premiere volume and Volume 2, “Head Games.” IDW also plans to release the entire series in three volumes, total, in this format.
Meanwhile, The Rocketeer collection seems to be a sort of “best of” including Dave Stevens’ classic run, and other stories. And the D4VE collection includes three miniseries.
If you’re curious to know more, you can pre-order all the books now at major retailers, including the links below. But in the meantime, here’s the official synopses and cover art (as well as release dates and more info) for the books, via PRH.
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Godzilla: Rulers of Earth – IDW Classic Collections
Written by Chris Mowry
Art by Matt Frank and Jeff Zornow
Release Date: Feb 24, 2026
Page Count: 592 Pages
For the first time ever, read all 25 issues of the fan-favorite series in one volume, presented in a convenient pocket sized (6 x 9) edition!
Giant monsters are appearing across the globe and leaving complete devastation in their wake. But, a mysterious Russian industrialist offers to rid the world of them with his new Mechagodzilla units. Will the new fleet of weaponized robots be enough to stop Godzilla when he returns? Will Godzilla be able to battle the newly created Mecha-King Ghidorah? It’s a war of the machines with Godzilla caught in the middle.
Bursting with almost 600 pages of kaiju action, this edition is a great way to read the entire epic series!
Get Godzilla: Rulers of Earth on Bookshop.org
Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft – IDW Classic Collections
Written by Joe Hill
Art by Gabriel Rodriguez
Release Date: March 24, 2026
Page Count: 312 Pages
Hailed as a “modern masterpiece” by The A.V. Club, this new pocket-sized edition (6×9 inches) tells a sprawling tale of magic and family, legacy and grief, good and evil.
Acclaimed suspense novelist and New York Times best-selling author Joe Hill (The Fireman, Heart-Shaped Box) has created a gripping story of dark fantasy and wonder—with astounding artwork from Gabriel Rodriguez—that, like the doors of Keyhouse, will transform all who open it. The epic begins here! This new edition includes Welcome to Lovecraft and Head Games.
Following their father’s gruesome murder in a violent home invasion, the Locke children return to his childhood home of Keyhouse in secluded Lovecraft, Massachusetts. Their mother, Nina, is too trapped in her grief—and a wine bottle—to notice that all in Keyhouse is not what it seems: too many locked doors, too many unanswered questions.
The IDW Classic Collections will collect the six-volume series into three convenient, pocket-sized editions. The second volume will include Crown of Shadows and Keys to the Kingdom; the third volume will include Clockworks and Alpha & Omega.
Get Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft on Bookshop
The Rocketeer: Thrills, Spills, and Chills – IDW Classic Collections
By Dave Stevens, John Cassaday, Darwyn Cooke, Roger Langridge and Michael Allred
Release Date: Apr 28, 2026
Page Count: 368 Pages
Discover all the fun of classic comics in these stories, including Dave Stevens’ original masterpiece, featuring high-flying Indiana Jones-style adventures that mix pulp action, mystery, and danger!
From its beginnings in comics to its big screen adaptation, The Rocketeer has captured audiences’ imagination with its blend of pulp thrills and classic adventure. Now, in these new IDW Classic Collections, read all of Dave Steven’s original comics plus the continuing adventures of Cliff, Betty, and Peevy from Rocketeer Adventures!
Cliff Secord, a down-on-his luck pilot, is always looking for ways to make a fast buck. Discovering a stolen rocket pack could be the one thing that will turn his fortunes around…but will it? What follows are government agents, German spies, deception, danger, and adventure. This is the world of…The Rocketeer by Dave Stevens!
Also included are the continuing adventures of Cliff in Rocketeer Adventures, the first time new stories were created involving Dave Stevens’ ace stunt pilot. Expanding on Stevens’ original masterpiece these 24 short stories continue where the original comics left off as Cliff, Betty, and Peevy fight off gangsters, Nazi spies, fake superheros, and more from some of the most talented creators in comics including Kurt Busiek, Darwyn Cooke, Dave Gibbons, Marc Guggenheim, Walter Simonson, Bruce Timm, Stan Sakai, John Byrne, Matt Wagner, and more!
The Rocketeer: Thrills, Spills, and Chills includes over 350 pages of comics action in a convenient 6” x 9” format that lets you take the fun of reading wherever you want!
Get The Rocketeer: Thrills, Spills & Chills on Bookshop.org
D4VE – IDW Classic Collections
Written by Ryan Ferrier
Art by Valentin Ramon
Release Date: May 19, 2026
Page Count: 320 Pages
The perfect blend of workplace comedy, domestic drama, and sci-fi action! Collected in one pocket-sized edition for the first time, read all three volumes of the comic series!
The robots conquered earth, wiping out all life in the galaxy, but nothing changed. Prime-time TV, mortgages, traffic jams—it’s all the same. Meet D4VE, the greatest robot war hero, now a regular old desk jockey. Can something, somewhere, snap him out of this slump? Will a new presence on 34RTH ignite his long-lost spark for battle? Then, can an inconceivable blast from the past threaten not only D4VE’s dwindling relationship with his son 5COTTY, but all of robot-kind itself? And D4VE for president?!
This irreverent look at “life” through the eyes of a robot and the world around him, by writer Ryan Ferrier and artist Valentin Ramon, takes the dystopian sci-fi trope and turns it on its humorous head.
Collects D4VE, D4VE2, and D4VEocracy into one convenient-to-read edition.
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